2020-11-05 News ArticleLake Okeechobee News -merger of Okeechobee News, Clewiston News, Glades County Democrat, and The Sun November 11, 2020
Okeechobee business owners complain about panhandlers
By Cathy Womble
Lake Okeechobee News
OKEECHOBEE—The homeless popu-
lation in the downtown parks was the first
order of business at the Okeechobee City
Council meeting on Nov. 5.
Mike Mammareld, owner of Joey's Pizza,
attended the city council meeting in order to
speak to the council about the parks in front
of his restaurant. "We've got a beautiful park
out there," he said. "But, I'm having a lot of
homeless problems out there. A lot of people
try to panhandle my customers in front of the
place." He said it makes it bad for business,
and he believes it is causing fewer people to
visit the park.
'It's getting a little scary. You find them
lying across the benches up there," he
explained. He said one man was lying on a
park bench half naked. "It really looks terrible
for the park. There's probably half a dozen
guys coming in and out of the park They
are homeless." He went on to say with times
being as tough as they are, this makes it even
harder for the businesses there. He was hop-
ing the council could look into the problem
and see if they could do anything about it.
Police Chief Bob Peterson said this has
been an ongoing problem. He and City
Administrator Marcos Montes de Oca have
been discussing the best way to handle the
problem. They are trying to come up with
some type of ordinance. "It's not as easy as
it sounds," he said. "You can't tell somebody
he can't stay in a public place." He said if they
are panhandling, that is breaking the law, and
there are things they can do about that. "We
have to have a reason to tell them to leave,
other than they don't have a shirt on and we
don't like them there. We know there is a
problem, and we are working on it."
Councilman Bobby Keefe said a second
man spoke to him about the same problem.
Dave Feiteriberger and his wife own property
in front of the park as well, and have similar
concerns about the homeless hanging out in
the park. Feltenberger offered his employees
and supplies to build some type of open
shelter where these men could go to sleep.
He would like to include a bathroom facility
as well where they could wash up and use
the facilities. "Obviously, it would not be in
the park, because it shouldn't be there," said
Councilman Keefe.
Councilman Keefe said Feltenberger
understood it could not be a closed shelter,
'because it would have to be staffed in order
to prevent drug use inside. His intention is
to build something open enough that law
enforcement could drive by several times
each night and see inside without getting out
of their vehicles — just something out of the
rain where the homeless could sleep and use
the bathroom.
In other business, Finance Director India
Riedel was presented with a longevity certifi-
cate for 15 years of service to the city.
Approval was granted to purchase a
software upgrade to the police department
Spillman System. The cost will be $19,925,
and the software will help provide uniform
crime report data required by the State of
Florida. Because this was not budgeted, Chief
Peterson said they plan to make do with two
new police cars next year and use the money
budgeted for the third car to pay for the soft-
ware. "We knew this was coming," he said,
"but we did not know when."
The council discussed the future direc-
tion of code enforcement in the city. Chief
Peterson said they had two choices. They
could continue doing things the way they do
now, but he said with the existing structure,
they cannot keep up. He went on to tell the
council if they wanted to continue with the
beautification of the city and making the city
took like a place people would want to stay,
live and put a business, it would take, not
only more effort, but also more money than
they are currently allocated.
Councilman Bob Jarriel said some of the
code enforcement issues brought before the
council in the past were a year or two old and
not resolved. "That's not good for the city or
the neighbors." He concluded that he felt they
should go forward with code enforcement
because citizens have indicated this is what
they want.
Councilman Wes Abney noted that code
enforcement has put over $22,000 in the
city's general fund in the last six months. He
suggested using the funds the Economic Cor-
poration turned down for code enforcement.
Councilman Keefe and Councilwoman Mon-
ica Clark both agreed and said they would
like to move forward with code enforcement
and hire some full-time employees. Mayor
Dowling Watford was the lone dissenter,
saying he felt code enforcement was doing a
good job now, and there was no need at this
time to do more.
Chief Peterson told the council the code
enforcement secretary left and Fred Sterling,
the code enforcement officer, plans to retire
"Always on Top
Of the Job"
in December. This will leave them without
a code enforcement officer. He said this will
give them the opportunity to start over and
do things "fresh and right." He would like to
hire a main code enforcement officer and
an assistant who is capable of getting out
in the field and helping out rather than a
secretary. He wants to hive an experienced
code enforcement officer so they do not have
to spend six months training this person.
Sterling is willing to slay until they find his
replacement, but he has already turned in his
resignation. They will offer $18 per hour for
the new code enforcement officer. The assis-
tant would make the same amount as entry
level secretaries. The total cost for both posi-
tions with benefits would be approximately
$110,509, Now, they are paying $70,964
for Sterling and a part time employee. The
additional cost to the city would be $39,545
each year. Considering the money code en-
forcement put into the general fund over the
last six months, he believes the program will
pay for itself, although he cannot make any
promises. The council voted to allow him to
go ahead with his plan.
The council discussed the hiring of a
professional landscape architect service.
They sent out a request for qualifications last
month and five companies applied. Ranked
number one by the committee was the firm
of Calvin, Giodano & Associates. Although,
several council members expressed dis-
appointment in the way the ranking was
handled. Councilman Keefe said he felt the
council should have had access to presenta-
tions from the companies, and he was not
happy with the lack of communication from
staff. After some discussion, it was decided
the ranking would be rejected and the coun-
cil will see presentations from the companies
before a second ranking takes place.
City firefighters were on the agenda again.
This time, the discussion was on their annual
and sick leave payout. In recent discussions,
the council has attempted to find a way to
make longevity with the city a factor in the
firefighters' payouts. Staff suggested using
sick and annual leave payout as a way to
achieve the goal. This would be approxi-
mately $138,000 total for everyone in the
department and would be paid out based
on seniority. The longer they have been with
the department, the bigger the payout. As it
stan s now in the interlocal agreement, the
fire ghters will be given the option of taking
a payout on their accumulated sick
z
leave or carrying it over to the county. If they
carry it over to the county, the city will pay
the county for that sick leave. If the firefight-
ers choose a payout, they would start work
for the county with no accrued sick days.
It would be like beginning a new career at
zero days. Either way, the city will be paying
the sick leave costs. The discussion involved
allowing the firefighters to take a 100% pay-
out rather than 50% as a way to give them a
bigger payout for service with the city. It was
decided the council needs more precise fig-
ures before they make a decision on whether
to offer this to the firefighters, and it will be
on the agenda for the next meeting.
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JOIN THE CITY'S 'I'll
FLAGLER PARK DESIGN REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE
• Metal & Shingle Roofs
The City of Okeechobee is seeking volunteers to serve on a
citizen board to make recommendations on improvements to
• Flats & Leak Repair
f lagler Park. This is YOUR opportunity to be involved in YOUR Communityt
,on,plete a Citizen Board Application by December 18, 2020 and submit to
the Office of the City Clerk at 55 SE 3rd AVE, Okeechobee, FL, or via email
• )
igamiotea@cityofokeechobee.com. Applications can be downloaded from
'
Ile website cityofokeechobee.comlvolunteer.htmi. For questions contact
863 357-3838
353 763-9814.
,y By: City Clerk Lana Gainiotea, CIVIC
Nov.5) aoa0
CoknG I Nlee*AQ